In a way, I am really lucky. I’m tall enough at nearly 6 feet (182.7 cm) that even if I have a stomach with a thick layer of fat, it doesn’t show much, as long as I cover it up with clothes. (You don’t believe me? Trust me, it’s there. But see, I wear clothes so you can’t tell! 
)
But Japanese girls, whose average height is 5’2″ (158 cm), don’t have the same luxury. Even a little bit of fat can really stand out. (Short girls, you know what I’m talking about, right?)
And yet, Japanese girls are REALLY FREAKILY SKINNY.
What’s more, they are obsessed with getting skinnier. I’m generalizing of course, since obviously there is a section of the Japanese female population that doesn’t care or doesn’t care very much about being stick-thin, but a lot of Japanese women do care. To the point that they will do all sorts of crazy diets to lose weight/maintain weight.
I want to share a few of the different things that I see nearly every day in regards to being rail-thin like everyone else in Japan. Not because I want to encourage anyone to follow that example, but because I want to inform people. And if you ever hear my relatively thin butt complaining about wanting to lose weight, this is why!
This is what I see every day that drags my confidence level through the gutter.
I don’t know.. These scans are from an advertisement in a popular mainstream December 2011 fashion magazine.
Let’s try to look at this objectively:
-Alright, nearly everyone wants to be thin. (some people don’t, and hey that’s cool) But I think I can safely say that whether we are or not, whether we say it out loud or not, most girls at least kinda want to be thin and “in shape”.
-But I think (objectively of course! — I’m being sarcastic here, juuuuust in case you can’t tell) that nobody anywhere wants to look as if their over-sized head is about to fall off of their toothpick-sized body….
Actually, since we’re being objective, well… if you cut these girls off at the waist and only look at the top half, they look alright. Petite, for sure. Thin, yes. But not quite to the anorexia/bulimia stage.
…But their bottom half?! Their hips look unnaturally small and their legs look like matchsticks. I’d be tempted to say that they were photoshopped, except that sadly, I see girls that are this thin walk by every say. I know some girls who are models that are this thin.
True, the “before” girl is not an ideal for a lot of people. She’s not half bad, though, and, well…. her head seems to be in correct proportion to her body!
Anyways, I just wanted to share the image of the Japanese girl’s “ideal” body. This is what I see every day around me, and whether I want to be like that or not (I don’t), it’s still what I get compared to every time I walk down the street. So that’s why I feel quite…. fat.
Next, I will dig up some great diet fads popular here in Japan that help these girls stay so thin! (or aspire to!) Believe me, there are a LOT!
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RT @jamieism: What is the Japanese girl’s ideal body? http://t.co/8XPN3cKU #japan #diet #japanesewomen
きもい。
i look like these girls, i hate it. so much. no one wants to look like this. but you just have to accept yourself the way you are… which sucks!
I’m 155 cm tall and weigh 37 Kg.
I sure am skinny but really don’t look like these girls!
Hello again, it’s Eewyi here! ^_^
I’m not sure if you remember me, but I have commented in your Hello Kitty post~ Now I comment in this ^.^
Because, just recently I as well bought this Japanese Fashion magazine [It had pics of Hamasaki Ayumi, that's why I bought it~] and I saw similiar pics to these.
The first thing that came to my mind wasn’t “beautiful” att all.
Actually, I was a bit shocked.
I mean, these girls are just way too thin! As you said, look at their bottom half! Look their tummy! They are seriously underweight. And they sure are, because I can compare them to me.
You see, for a 18 year-old Finnish girl [Finnish women are around 163~165cm generally], I’m pretty petite. I’m even petite compared to Japanese girls.
I’m only 145cm [~4'9] what’s that, like some average 10 year old? : D I weight 38,8kg [85,5lbs] so that’s about same results as some girls “after” photos here.
And am I fat? Nope. Okay, I’m not super thin, but not fat either. Although I don’t say that sometimes, I would like to loose a kg or two [don't be worried I'm not seriously going to take any diets or anything, but still ^///^;]
But these girls..they are just too thin..
I admit that I like to be skinny, but no way that skinny! > ^ <
I know! There is skinny, there is healthy, and then there is just disturbing, which is what I find these girls! ^^;;;
I found this quite fascinating and agree with you and many who have commented: their legs look unnaturally thin and fragile. I would be afraid that one wrong step would snap their legs like twigs… and it worries me that they are prancing around in high heels. I don’t think it is necessarily bad to want to be thinner or in shape — as long as the desire is healthy and the goal is achieved through healthy, non-damaging methods — but sometimes we take it to an unhealthy extreme.
I’m 5’4″ and since last July, I have lost about 35-40 pounds. (I discovered I had certain food allergies that were causing me to gain weight. Once I cut out the foods causing the problem, the weight melted off rather easily… after ten years of struggling, frustration, and disappointment.) I have not been this “thin” since I graduated from high school a decade ago, and I’m currently hovering about 148 pounds (67.3 kg). I still want to lose 10-15 more pounds, but that will come with time and exercise. Though I am not now nor ever will be as tiny as the Japanese girls in the advertisements, I’m happy, healthy, and contented. =)
But I could definitely see how seeing such ads and also many girls/women that thin on a daily basis could affect a person’s self-image and confidence.
oooh it’s sooo great……i want to be like her!!
but my wheight is 49 kg 
how i can will be like her???
Oh my god! They look so…unhealthy to me! I really hope they’re photoshopped! Why do they go this far? Their legs seem like two (ok, this is the first thing that I thought when I saw them) chopsticks! Like, you can soo easily crash them! This is so insane, 38 kg is the weight of my little brother….
Is that considered “beauty” in Japan? I mean, I think that asian girls in general tend to be more skinny and “petite” than others, but…those girls on the photos are not normal at all…and it’s very weird to look at them cause, apart from being too skinny, their head seems to have the wrong size for their bodies…( if not their boobs…)
Oooh man… I look at magazine scans often and when I saw this one it really super freaked me out ! I couldn’t believe it, it’s probably one of the worst I’ve seen. It must be running often because I saw this in the October issue of PopSister that came out in September… =_=
It becomes really difficult though after seeing these kinds of things all the time… sometimes I catch myself looking at some Japanese models and thinking “oh so cute!” but then I have to do a double take because… they look close to these pictures. It’s dangerous…
They are all so thin. I am 5’10″ and 90kg (~198lb). T~T I really really REALLY need to lose weight. I used to weigh 72kg (~158lb) before I got a desk job and I think that was my ideal weight. That’s what I’ll work towards, with all my free time!
OMG! There’s no way those legs are sexy! I’m scared… Instead of losing 20kg, maybe only 10 would do them good… why go to the extreme??
I always hate seeing girls who are so thin you can see their ribs. it’s an unhealthy image to promote, yes I’m one of those girls but not to the point where it puts my heath at risk. why must magazines continue to promote this version of acceptability? sadly it seems to be world wild as well
I suppose that it’s better than promoting obesity, maybe.. I’m not sure. Both are very destructive lifestyles.
It always looks like they are wearing swimsuits that are at least a size too big in the after photos.
And yes, as a short girl I do know what you are talking about!! ;D
I had noticed these unnaturaly thin legs before reading your comment about it. But I don’t truly find it sexy; in the last picture the swimsuit is even lose! And last thing for me; does the weight are the right ones??!
I’m 165cm tall and 64kg, but I’m not as fat as they appear!
I think that it’s all about how you carry it. I’m sure that they wouldn’t exagerrate the before weight to be less. If anything, they’d state them heavier than they actually are!
this is insane. i have seen photos like this in some japanese magazines i bought and i thought they were photoshopped!! o_O this is just scary. but i agree that girls and women have to have some common sense and not know that this is unhealthy.
I imagine that they’re photoshopped, but I’ve really seen girls that are this skinny walking around.
Do Japanese men find that kind of body attractive? It’s rather scary and not sexy at all. O.o”
I seriously don’t know. I think some of them must.
I suppose I shouldn’t be one to talk, since I’m not anywhere near fat (I’m underweight, actually, so I’ve been trying to gain some weight) but I can’t understand how being super duper skinny is supposed to be beautiful. I’m glad I’m not *that* thin… The after pictures don’t look very healthy at all. ):
I really don’t get how this is attractive, they look anorexic! It’s sad these advertisements are the norm in Japan, they wouldn’t be allowed in the US!
I’ve seen some ads in the US with professional models (in magazines like Vogue) where they were photoshopped to look this skinny. It was pretty scary!
I agree with you, their bottom halves are pretty much what looks the most awkward to me.
I feel for them, though, just as I do for anyone who feels that there is a certain look they need to fit into. I’ve had bouts with anorexia before (not purposely), and even though I have never been “underweight,” at my smallest… I just looked weird. I have a big head, yo, and even bigger hair. I am *not* meant to have a small body, in my opinion, where balance and proportions count. xD;; I feel that I lucked out where most of my black relatives, no matter the shape or size, carry weight very well and look proportionate. My Korean relatives are just normal by Korean standards, I suppose. But anyway, though I could stand to lose some weight, I’m not concerned about it based on others’ perceptions.
Wah! Why are they going that far? It’s fine to not be skinny!! If those girls are afraid about how guys see them, then those guys ain’t worth your time!
I’m afraid their legs would snap if they lift anything!! When I thought I saw some really thin people that need to eat, I see something outdoes that! At least try to work those muscles! In this matter you can have greater stamina, and still burn any fat you wish! ( I should know as I work at the farm.)
In the before pictures they’d all look nicer if they were glammed up a little like the after photos with some make up, styled hair, nice bathing suits, cute pose, better lighting….
Just those differences make the comparison annoying to me…
It looked like they only needed to diet a little, and gain some muscles to help tighten certain areas…
These after pictures look sick x__x; I don’t see beautiful people… I see people who are overly concerned with beauty and they just look sad…
Do they even have any muscle left?? o__o
Well luckily Im a 6’4 guy, so I can relate to being able to hide some weight
. But these girls are defiantly not appealing at that weight at all, they appear so… brittle and sickly.
These girls look very unhealthy to me
They need to put some meat on their bones….THEY NEED TO EAT!!!
sigh.. i’d never look like that even if they lipo’d me >.> well.. it’d make me look REALLY weird since my bones (esp my hips) stick out so far x.x
meh.. i just wanna get stronger so i have an excuse to be 50kg =p
I’ve seen some of these before and others too. I find it a little disturbing that they go through such dramatic lenghts to be this thin. I know that many people will say beauty is on the inside, but really, we’re talking about the physical appearance here. I don’t think any of these girls are beautiful, there is no shape to their body what-so-ever and their bottom half is just creepy! This is way too thin.
I lost 50 lbs last year and am still into losing a bit more, but my goal is not to be thin or skinny, it’s to be healthy and feel good about myself. I don’t see being thin like that as being healthy at all, it’s just skin and bones…
But not quite to the anorexia/bulimia stage. <– Huge misconception. Many people who suffer from anorexia/bulimia are not rail thin; that does not mean they are not binging/purging/hyperexercising/etc.
That’s true. Many aren’t yet to/don’t want to be at that stage. But what I meant was that in order to look this skinny, you have to be anorexic/bulimic/otherwise sick. I don’t think there’s any way to look that skinny while healthy and eating a healthy diet.
omg I can’t believe this is acceptable! They must go to a lot of lengths to look like that O_O”
Those photos are just disgusting!!!! Those girls look unnaturally slim! In spite of your comment, i am 100% sure they are or photoshopped! Or they make use of girls that are severely undernourished!
I am a guy and i am not into fat girls but more because i am into healthy looking girls. Women really need to realize that there’s a difference between being thin due to doing sports and eating healthily (not just little) and looking healthy, and looking like somebody who belongs in a hospital, both for nutritional and psychological reasons.
I mean, it’s just not on your belly or hips that you see whether a girl is healthy and attractive. Hair, skin, enthusiasm and spontaneity all play a role and are things where you can always tell the difference between a girl who works out and is in a healthy place in her life and somebody who’s just starving herself.
I absolutely despise this form of advertising and there’s more and more political will to forbid it, at least in Europe. But, girls, you also need to realize that what you see in an ad is not the same as what looks good or what guys are attracted to. If you absolutely must have an ideal of beauty then, please follow the Playboy model image (without the fake boobs, please) rather than these sick examples!
Oh WOW!!!Their legs are so unnatural it’s incredible. I wouldn’t want to look like that…women should have some tiny grabable bits
,touching bones isn’t attractive IMO of course ^^ Thnx for shariiiing!!
Please do share them!!!
I feel quite fat at 50g and 5’1
50g is quite skinny, though! My computer weight much more than that ^.~